The  Time   of   Some   Mental  Processes 

in  the   Retardation  and  Excitement 

of  Insanity 


BY 


SHEPHERD  IVORY  FRANZ 


(From   the   Laboratory   of    Pathological     Physiology    of    the    McLean 
Hospital,  Waverley,  Mass.) 


Reprinted  from  the  AMERICAN  JOURNAL  OF  PSYCHOLOGY 
January,  1906,  Vol.  XVII,  pp.  38-68. 


The  Time  of  Some  Mental  Processes 
in  the  Retardation  and  Excitement 
of  Insanity. 


THE  TIME  OF  SOME  MENTAL  PROCESSES  IN  THE 
RETARDATION  AND  EXCITEMENT  OF  INSANITY. 


By  SHEPHERD  IVORY  FRANZ. 

(From   the  Laboratory  of  Pathological   Physiology  of  the  McLean 
Hospital,  Waverley,  Mass.) 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

Introductory, 

Clinical  histories  of  subjects, 
Description  of  experiments, 

Experimental  results, 

Conclusions 


2 

3 

12 

17 

31 

Introduction.  The  present  work  was  undertaken  in  order  to 
gather  material  for  the  solution  of  the  problem  :  to  what  part 
or  parts  of  the  nervous  system  may  we  refer  the  increased  and 
the  decreased  psychomotor  activity  usually  found  in  depressed- 
maniacal  insanity. 

The  earlier  psychiatrists  considered  as  separate  disease  enti- 
ties abnormal  emotional  depressions  and  exaltations,  under  the 
names  of  melancholia  and  mania,  and  the  condition  in  which 
there  is  a  more  or  less  regular  alternation  of  the  exaltation  and 
the  depression,  called  circular  insanity.  The  last  state  was 
deemed  very  peculiar,  but  until  the  time  of  Kraepelin  it  seemed 
not  to  have  been  closely  associated  with  either  of  the  two  other 
conditions.  To  Kraepelin  is  due  the  credit  for  having  shown 


that  circular  insanity,  m 
form)  are  interrelated 
Manisch-depressive  Irresei 
main  points  of  the  present 
pelinian  school)  of  the  o 


simple 
termed 
up  the 
Krae- 
eWncholia  and 


Mnatio 

the  older  circular  insanity;2  a  tendency  to  recurrence,  the  ab- 
sence of  mental  deterioration,  psychomotor  excitability  or  re- 

1  This  name  has  been  variously  translated,  the  most  common  being 
"manic-depressive  insanity."  See  Hoch's  article  in  Wood's  Hand- 
book of  the  Medical  Sciences,  Vol.  V,  "Manic  Depressive  Insanity," 
Paton's  recent  book:  Psychiatry,  and.  de  Fursac,  Manual  of  Psychi- 
atry, Trans,  by  Rosanoff.  This  designation  is  a  transliteration  of  the 
German,  regardless  of  English  meaning  and  spelling;  the  word  manic 
is  not  given  in  the  Century  Dictionary  and  the  word  depressive  means 
"able  or  tending  to  depress."  It  is  not  the  insanity  which  is  depres- 
sive but  the  depression  is  the  "insanity." 

*0    cit. 


MENTAL   PROCESSES.  3 

tardation,  emotional  exhilaration  or  depression,  and  difficulty 
or  (apparent)  ease  in  thinking.  These  alternative  symptoms 
may  be  variously  combined  in  individual  cases,  the  most  usual, 
however,  being  the  combinations  of  (a)  exhilaration-|-excita- 
bility-j-flight  of  ideas  and  (b)  depression-}-retardation-|-diffi- 
culty  in  thinking.  In  the  excited  phase  of  this  condition  the 
emotional  tone  is  exalted.  There  is  a  feeling  of  bien  aise,  of  ex- 
pansiveness,  of  great  ability,  and  of  self-satisfaction.  There  is 
more  or  less  motor  excitement  and  a  seeming  rapidity  of  asso- 
ciations, with  flight  of  ideas.  The  associations  are  usually 
superficial  and  sound  associations.  The  attention  is  very  un- 
stable. In  the  depressed  phase  there  is  a  lowering  of  emotional 
tone,  and  a  feeling  of  malaise,  of  hopelessness,  perhaps  of  fear, 
and  there  may  be  suicidal  tendencies  and  attempts.  There  is 
often  a  profound  motor  disturbance  in  which  the  reactions 
— using  that  word  in  its  widest  sense — are  slowed,  and  an  ap- 
pearance of  decrease  in  associative  ability;  in  other  words  a 
retardation.  Any  of  these  symptoms,  but  of  course  not  oppo- 
sites,  may  be  present  to  a  mild  or  to  a  most  marked  degree. 

The  differences  in  motor  activity  of  this  class  of  the  insane 
have  been  studied  to  some  extent  *  but  so  far  as  I  am  aware 
there  is  no  published  account  of  work  such  as  is  here  attempted. 
At  the  present  writing  there  is  available  only  an  incomplete 
skeleton  of  the  work  necessary  for  a  full  understanding  of  these 
motor  conditions.  The  present  article  is,  however,  complete 
in  itself  and  is  to  be  considered  as  part  of  the  general  plan. 

Clinical  Histories  of  the  Subjects.  Six  subjects  were  chiefly 
used  in  the  research,  two  normal,  two  depressed  (retarded), 
and  two  exhilarated  (excited),  as  follows: 

Normal  subjects.  F.,  the  writer,  upon  whom  the  whole 
series  could  not  be  made,  was  used  as  one  normal  subject.  The 
other  normal  subject  was  B.,  a  business  man,  age  49  at  the 
time  the  experiments  were  being  made,  had  been  a  patient  at 
the  hospital  for  about  seven  years.  During  the  course  of  the 
experiments  B.  was  consfileSred  'recovered,'  and  had  been  prac- 
tically so  for  about  a  year.  He  w'as  admitted2  to  the  hospital 
Oct.  22,  1897.  He  had  previously  indulged  quite  freely  in 
alcoholic  liquors,  but  for  over  a  year  had  very  little  alcohol. 
For  ten  months  before  admission  the  patient  had  appeared  not 

^Especially  reaction  times :  W.  Bevan  Lewis,  Textbook  of  Mental 
Diseases,  2d  edit.,  London,  1899,  pp.  164,  364  and  365.  Richet:  Dic- 
tionnaire  de  Physiologie,  Article  Cerveau,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  29.  v.  Tschisch: 
Neurol.  Centralblatt,  1885,  IV,  p.  217.  G.  Leftnann :  Psychol.  Arbeiten, 
1904,  IV,  603-668.  On  fatigue:  Hoch,Journ.  of  Nervous  and  Mental 
Diseases,  1904,  XXVIII,  620-628. 

2  The  clinical  accounts  have  been  copied  from  the  hospital  records. 
The  notes  were  made  chiefly  by  Drs.  A.  Hoch,  Steele,  Roberts  and 
Hamilton. 


4  FRANZ : 

so  well,  had  become  absent-minded,  depressed,  and  later  more 
inactive.  On  entrance  he  spoke  slowly  in  a  monotonous  tone, 
expression  immobile,  rather  blank,  yet  said  he  worried  about 
everything.  He  was  not  clear  as  to  where  he  was,  and  in  the 
afternoon  did  not  remember  the  physician  whom  he  had  seen 
for  a  short  time  on  entrance  (morning).  Later  he  was  oriented 
as  to  time,  place  and  persons,  did  not  occupy  himself,  did  not 
speak  spontaneously,  but  answered  calculation  questions,  even 
difficult  ones,  very  promptly,  but  questions  regarding  his  con- 
dition were  answered  by  "I  don't  know."  There  was  no 
memory  difficulty.  In  four  months  he  became  a  little  more 
spontaneous,  and  his  sentences  were  a  little  longer  when  he 
talked.  In  the  gymnastic  class  he  was  reported  to  make  his 
movements  promptly  and  well.  For  four  years  he  remained 
practically  stationary,  answering  slowly,  doing  little,  but  when 
made  to  do  things,  as  in  the  gymnasium  class,  doing  them 
promptly  and  well.  "It  is  the  fact  that  with  a  sufficient  ex- 
ternal stimulus  the  patient  can  act  promptly  while  it  seems 
that  if  he  has  to  supply  the  stimulus  himself  there  is  so  little 
activity  that  it  makes  his  general  condition  appear  rather  the 
outcome  of  an  apathy  than  of  a  retardation."  In  June,  1903, 
it  was  noted  that  "there  has  been  a  slow,  gradual  gain  which 
from  day  to  day  or  week  to  week,  or  even  month  to  month  has 
been  imperceptible,  but  which  on  looking  back  has  amounted 
to  a  very  great  transformation.  The  man  shows  now  in  regard 
to  conversation  and  in  regard  to  occupying  himself  with  every- 
thing that  is  possible  in  the  hospital  a  very  decided  sponta- 
neity. He  shows,  moreover,  good  judgment  in  his  conversation. 
He  is  one  of  the  best  billiard,  tennis  and  whist  players  and  is 
occupied  all  the  time."  He  did  not  ask  to  be  allowed  to  go 
home,  did  not  think  he  could  attend  to  his  business,  but  when 
questioned  in  regard  to  his  condition  the  old  reply  "I  don't 
know"  was  sometimes  given.  During  the  following  summer 
the  patient  was  occupied  most  of  the  time  playing  golf,  tennis, 
etc.  There  was  a  gradual  improvement,  although  when  any- 
thing out  of  the  ordinary  arose  he  was  inclined  to  hesitate  a 
little.  During  the  succeeding  year  there  was  a  gradual  recov- 
ery and  at  the  time  of  the  laboratory  experiments  he  was  prac- 
tically well,  although  disinclined  to  take  up  business.  The 
patient  was  discharged  May  29,  1905. 

Retarded  subjects.  Ed.,  a  hotel  clerk,  age  21,  was  admitted 
to  the  hospital  May  8,  1904,  greatly  depressed  and  retarded. 
For  some  years  previous  to  his  attack  of  melancholia  he  had 
been  troubled  greatly  with  dyspepsia,  and  he  had  always  been 
inclined  to  worry  about  his  business  and  other  affairs.  In 
March,  1904,  the  patient  could  not  attend  to  his  work,  gave  up 
his  position,  and  was  greatly  worried  about  himself.  He  would 


MENTAL  PROCESSES.  5 

say,  as  an  example  of  his  depressive  ideas,  "I  am  no  good." 
When  taken  to  drive  he  feared  lest  the  horse  was  not  strong 
enough  to  pull  him,  etc.  At  this  time  the  patient  was  taken 
to  his  father's  office  and  performed  what  little  things  were 
asked  of  him,  e.g.,  writing  down  orders  and  answering  the 
telephone,  but  there  was  no  spontaneity.  Gradually  he  be- 
came slower  in  his  movements,  but  in  the  beginning  of  May 
was  restless  and  once  made  an  attempt  at  suicide  by  drowning. 
After  this  he  was  even  less  active,  refused  food,  and  was  untidy 
if  not  closely  watched.  He  expressed  the  ideas  that  he  was 
turning  to  stone,  that  his  throat  had  been  cut,  that  his  feet  had 
been  taken  off,  that  he  had  no  tongue,  and  that  his  neck  was 
broken.  After  his  entrance  to  the  hospital  he  remained  in  bed, 
lying  perfectly  quiet,  seldom  moving  any  part  of  his  body. 
Upon  repeated  requests  he  did  not  show  his  tongue,  although 
it  was  seen  to  move  slightly  in  his  mouth,  which  was  partly 
open.  There  was  no  reaction  to  pin  pricks.  He  was  tube-fed. 
When  requested  he  could  be  made  to  walk  slowly  to  a  chair 
and  to  sit  down,  but  all  movements  made  at  command  were 
done  very  slowly  and  often  incompletely.  It  was  impossible  to 
get  the  patient  to  answer  any  questions.  On  most  occasions 
he  had  to  be  moved  by  the  nurses  from  place  to  place.  On  one 
or  two  occasions  he  was  heard  to  say  "What  have  I  done?" 
"Where  am  I?"  About  three  weeks  later  the  patient  obeyed 
simple  commands  such  as  'Get  out  of  bed,'  'Sit  in  the  chair,' 
but  all  his  movements  were  made  slowly,  and  with  a  consid- 
erable interval  between  the  command  and  the  beginning  of  the 
movement.  Common  answers  to  questions,  sometimes  given 
quite  promptly,  were  "No,"  "I  don't  know."  He  knew  his 
name  and  age,  and  related  part  of  his  previous  history  slowly 
but  well,  but  he  did  not  know  where  he  was,  how  he  came  to 
the  hospital,  or  how  long  he  had  been  here.  He  did  not  re- 
member the  physician  although  he  had  been  tube-fed  by  him 
for  twenty-three  days,  three  times  a  day.  A  few  days  later  he 
could  not  be  made  to  give  the  date,  place,  etc.,  and  answered 
to  all  questions  "I  don't  know."  At  this  time  he  was  heard 
to  remark,  "I  have  no  eyes,  no  arms,  no  legs."  Three  weeks 
later  he  knew  the  names  of  the  nurses  and  of  many  of  the 
patients  on  the  ward,  and  not  infrequently  made  remarks  about 
the  latter.  His  time  was  entirely  unoccupied,  and  was  spent 
walking  slowly  about  the  hall  or  in  the  yard,  or  sitting  or  lying 
about  the  hall  or  in  his  room.  On  June  2,  he  ate  well  three 
meals  and  from  that  time  did  not  have  to  be  tube-fed.  Simple 
questions  were  now  answered  readily,  but  questions  the  answers 
to  which  required  the  least  thought  either  received  no  response 
or  "I  don't  know."  July  30,  there  was  considerable  improve- 
ment over  his  previous  condition.  Occasionally,  especially 


6  FRANZ : 

towards  evening,  he  walked  about  better,  and  talked  more 
freely  to  the  nurses  and  physicians.  At  times,  however,  all 
one  could  get  from  him  was  "I  am  suffering  more  than  any 
one  else  in  the  world,"  or  "I  am  all  twisted,"  etc.  On  general 
subjects  he  often  answered  well  but  slowly,  but  so  soon  as  his 
condition  was  touched  upon,  he  would  not  answer.  He  was  at 
this  time  perfectly  clear  regarding  his  surroundings,  oriented 
as  to  time  and  place,  and  knew  the  people  about  him.  On 
August  24th,  when  the  series  of  experiments  were  begun,  the 
patient  was  in  the  condition  just  described.  He  answered 
slowly  and  in  whispers  and  it  took  considerable  persuasion  and 
often  commanding  to  get  him  to  start  upon  the  work.  A 
month  later,  September  26,  it  was  noted  that  there  had  been  a 
steady  improvement  in  the  patient's  condition.  He  took  part 
in  games,  and  made  a  fairly  natural  general  impression.  He 
played  pool  and  billiards  well.  For  about  three  weeks  he  had 
not  talked  so  much  of  being  "abused"  and  of  being  "the  sick- 
est man  in  the  world,"  and  these  ideas  had  been  gradually 
disappearing.  The  period  of  his  convalescence  seemed  to  be 
very  short;  he  seemed  to  get  well  by  leaps  and  bounds.  The 
experiments  were  continued  from  August  24  until  his  discharge 
"recovered"  Nov.  9,  1904. 

Ev. ,  the  other  retarded  subject,  was  at  the  time  of  the  ex- 
periments 65  years  old.  He  was  a  business  man,  admitted  to 
the  hospital  Oct.  15,  1903.  In  temperament  he  was  inclined 
to  be  optimistic.  He  was  social  and  entertaining,  but  rather 
easily  irritated.  Previous  to  his  present  illness  he  had  had  six 
attacks  of  depression.  All  of  these  had  been  rather  typical, 
showing  depression,  a  feeling  of  inadequacy,  and  some  retarda- 
tion. These  attacks  came  respectively  at  the  following  ages: 
22,  30,  37,  44,  51,  and  58.  The  later  ones  lasted  about  six 
months,  and  the  course  was  very  similar  in  all.  Each  started 
with  a  depression,  and  a  gradual  quieting  and  inactivity. 
Then  he  took  little  interest  in  things  about  him,  was  depressed 
about  everything,  thinking  that  his  business  was  'going  to  the 
bad'  and  that  his  family  would  be  ruined.  At  these  times  there 
was  considerable  self-reproach,  etc.  He  always  spoke  i«  a  low 
tone  and  answered  slowly.  The  attacks  usually  wore  off  quite 
gradually,  with  an  improvement  in  his  physical  condition  and 
a  relief  from  his  insomnia,  and  he  returned  to  his  'natural  opti- 
mistic self.'  During  the  past  five  years  the  patient  had  been 
under  a  mental  strain  because  of  business  difficulties.  The 
present  illness  began  in  December,  1902.  He  began  to  be  de- 
pressed and  to  sleep  poorly,  but  kept  at  his  business  until 
February,  1903,  when  the  firm  failed.  He  was  'completely 
exhausted'  by  the  failure  and  remained  in  bed  for  a  week  dur- 
ing which  time  his  condition  was  as  follows:  quiet,  felt  unable 


MENTAL   PROCESSES.  7 

to  do  things,  had  considerable  self-reproach,  took  little  interest 
in  things  about  him,  complained  of  feeling  exhausted  and 
weak.  Then  he  became  restless  and  agitated  and  would  not 
eat.  He  was  sent  to  an  insane  hospital  in  a  neighboring  city, 
his  restlessness  disappeared  and  gave  place  to  a  retardation. 
He  remained  quiet  for  the  most  of  the  time,  sat  in  one  place, 
and  had  to  be  urged  to  do  things.  He  was  mentally  clear, 
and  well  oriented.  On  entrance  to  McLean  Hospital,  October, 
1903,  the  patient  answered  questions  very  slowly — five  to  eight 
seconds — looked  quite  depressed,  obeyed  commands  slowly, 
walked  quite  hesitatingly,  protruded  the  tongue  barely  beyond 
the  lips.  He  sat  about  unoccupied,  without  any  spontaneous 
talk,  almost  with  no  movement.  He  showed,  in  fact,  a  very 
typical  psychomotor  retardation.  He  is  senile  physically,  but 
not  mentally.  The  condition  of  the  patient  remained  stable. 
He  was  always  quiet,  saying  and  doing  nothing  except  an  oc- 
casional mumbled  answer  in  a  tone  so  low  as  to  be  scarcely 
audible.  His  time  was  occupied  in  standing  quietly  or  sitting 
in  one  place,  occasionally  looking  around  him.  He  occasion- 
ally answered  questions  briefly,  slowly,  and  in  a  very  low  tone. 
When  told  to  go  to  the  dining  room  he  went  very  slowly,  but 
was  able  to  find  his  own  seat.  He  ate  in  a  normal  manner, 
using  knife,  fork  and  spoon  properly,  and  at  the  proper  times. 
At  night  he  would  not  undress  himself,  and  in  the  morning 
would  not  get  up  until  taken  out  of  bed  by  the  nurse.  He  ate 
and  slept  well.  During  the  next  few  months  the  patient  grad- 
ually improved  in  that  he  took  more  notice  of  things  about 
him,  moved  a  little  more  quickly,  and  more  often.  He  looked 
after  his  wants  better,  and  was  a  little  more  independent,  e.  g., 
he  would  go  to  the  dining  room  when  the  bell  was  rung. 
From  that  time  the  condition  remained  almost  stable.  He  sat 
about  the  ward,  always  unoccupied,  very  depressed,  never 
talked  to  any  one  except  to  answer  questions.  He  was  dis- 
tinctly retarded  except  in  the  matter  of  eating,  which  he  did 
as  rapidly  as  any  one.  He  dressed  and  undressed  himself 
slowly.  He  was  perfectly  oriented  as  to  time  and  place,  and 
knew  the  people  about  him.  There  seemed  to  be  no  memory 
defect  and  no  thinking  disorder.  The  following  is  a  note  made 
August  29,  1905:  "Very  little  change  has  been  noted  in  the 
patient's  condition.  He  is  always  seen  sitting  dejected  and 
inactive  in  the  sitting  room,  and  if  asked  to  shake  hands  he 
extends  his  right  hand  very  slowly  forward.  In  answering  a 
question  he  hesitates  for  some  time,  and  finally  whispers  out 
a  reply.  This  observation  applies  to  his  conduct  on  the  ward, 
where  his  retardation  is  marked.  About  two  weeks  ago  he 
was  taken  to  the  laboratary  for  four  days  to  be  put  through  a 
number  of  tests.  One  of  these  tests  required  him  to  read 


8  FRANZ  : 

aloud,  which  he  did  quite  audibly  on  the  third  day.  .  .  . 
Other  tests  were  responded  to  in  such  a  manner  as  to  indicate 
that  he  not  only  understood  all  that  was  said  to  him,  but  that 
he  could  do  various  things  calling  for  a  considerable  exercise 
of  his  power  of  attention,  recognition  and  discrimination. 
Once  an  experiment  was  explained  to  him,  he  co-operated  in- 
telligently, and  although  with  considerable  retardation,  quite 
accurately.  .  .  .  His  memory  is  good,  as  is  also  his  ori- 
entation as  to  time  and  place.  Depressive  ideas  remain,  as  for 
example,  his  usual  answer  to  questions  concerning  his  health: 
"No  better — I  shall  never  be  any  better. "  (Hamilton.)  This 
patient  took  part  in  the  experiments  reported  in  this  paper 
from  August  to  December,  1904,  and  again  in  August,  1905. 
He  was  discharged  to  go  to  another  hospital  Oct.  8,  1905,  in 
the  condition  that  had  been  characteristic  of  him  for  the  past 
year. 

Excited  Subjects.  C.,  age  48,  a  mechanic,  of  fair  education, 
with  a  fourth  attack  of  insanity,  was  admitted  as  a  patient  to 
the  hospital  August  2,  1904.  The  first  attack  (March  8  to 
May  21,  1901)  was  a  depression.  The  patient  had  been  a 
heavy  drinker  and  six  years  before  entrance,  in  1901,  he  had 
taken  the  Keeley  cure.  After  that  he  did  not  drink  until  a 
short  time  before  his  admission.  In  the  previous  summer  C. 
was  very  irritable  and  inclined  to  worry  over  small  matters. 
Then  he  lost  interest  in  his  work.  Four  months  before  admis- 
sion he  stopped  work,  and  thought  his  friends  were  against 
him,  avoided  them,  became  morose  and  remained  at  home. 
His  memory  at  that  time  was  not  good,  he  slept  poorly,  but 
there  was  no  marked  depression.  When  admitted  (March, 
1901)  the  patient  said  that  he  stopped  work  because  he  could 
not  attend  to  it  and  "got  balled  up."  He  had  difficulty  in 
thinking.  Multiplications  that  required  much  thinking  were 
difficult  and  almost  impossible.  He  said  spontaneously  that 
his  memory  was  poor  and  objectively  it  was  shown  to  be  so. 
Things  which  he  knew  well,  e.  g.t  when  he  came  to  the  hos- 
pital, when  he  last  saw  the  physican,  etc.,  took  him  a  long 
time  to  think  out.  He  worried  because  he  could  not  do  his 
work.  During  the  succeeding  two  and  one-half  months  he  im- 
proved rapidly,  felt  able  to  take  up  his  work  again,  and  said 
that  his  memory  was  good  again.  His  second  attack  was  an  ex- 
citement (December  4,  1901,  to  March  18,  1902).  After  leav- 
ing the  hospital  in  May  he  began  to  work,  bought  another 
business,  worked  hard,  and  showed  good  judgment  in  his 
affairs.  In  November  he  became  exhilarated,  and  talkative, 
but  not  unduly  expansive  in  his  ideas.  He  also  showed  a  cer- 
tain forgetfulness.  During  his  stay  at  the  hospital  he  was 
decidedly  euphoric  and  exhilarated.  He  showed  a  great  deal 


MENTAL  PROCESSES.  9 

of  over-activity.     He  talked  much,  decorated  his  room,  and 
showed  a  distinct  flight  of  ideas.     Everything  was  said  to  be 
"fine;"  the  hospital  "the  finest  place  in  the  world,"  etc.     He 
showed  no  memory  defect  at  that  time,  but  on  the  contrary 
had  a  good  grasp  on  details  of  both  present  and  past  events. 
He  gradually  quieted  down  and  became  more  normal  and  was 
discharged  "much  improved."     For  four  months  the  patient 
worked  well,  but  was  a  trifle  irritable  from  time  to  time,  and 
in  the  summer  became  quite  tired.    About  three  months  before 
his  third  admission  he  began  to  have  difficulty  in  applying  him- 
self to  his  work,  and  drank  heavily.     Afterwards  he  could  not 
do  his  work,  became  seclusive  and  slept  poorly.     Readmitted 
in  December,  1902,  he  was  depressed  until  May,  1903  (third 
attack).     In  this  attack  he  was  more  depressed  than  he  had 
been  in  1901.     He  said  he  was  'done  for,'  would  never  amount 
to  anything,  others  did  not  want  him  around,  etc.     In  church 
he  felt  that  the  clergyman  was  talking  at  him  because  he  talked 
of  vices,  and  he  asked  if  he  should  not  get  up  and  confess.    He 
was  unoccupied,  complained  of  feeling  dull  in  his  head,  heavy, 
and  s~aid  his  mind  was  weak  and  that  he  could  not  remember 
things.     He  said  very  little.     Objectively  his  memory  was  not 
found  to  be  particularly  poor,  he  was  oriented  in  regard  to  the 
place  and  time,  and  he  knew  the  names  of  those  with  whom 
he  came  in  contact.     His  calculation  ability  was  poor,  and  he 
said  it  was  difficult  for  him.     He  improved  during  the  five 
months    of    his    stay    and    was    discharged    in    May,    1903. 
Later  he  became  abnormally  irritable  and  excited  and  returned 
to  the  hospital  August  2,  1904.     During  the  interval  of  over 
a  year  he  drank  frequently  and-  at  these  times  neglected  his 
business.     At  such  times  he  talked  alternately,  religiously  and 
profanely.     During  the  six  weeks  previous  to  his  re-entrance 
to  the  hospital  he  was  more  talkative,  sometimes  abusive,  and 
he  took  no  rest  and  went  to  meals  irregularly.      During   this 
period  he  was  arrested  twice  for  acting  peculiarly.     His  man- 
ner at  the  hospital  was  a  jolly  one,   and  his  talk  showed  a 
"flight."      He  remained  exhilarated  as  evidenced  by  his  gen- 
eral activity  in  sports  and  in  his  movements  and  talk.    He  was 
apt  to  become  irritable  at  the  slightest  provocation.    This  was 
his  condition  during  the  experiments.     In   May,  1905,  it  was 
noted  that  he  had  become  a  little  quieter,  but  that  he  made  the 
impression  of  still  being  mildly  exhilarated.  July  29.  1905,  the 
patient  was  discharged.     He  had  become  less  exhilarated,  but 
remained  active.      His  conversation  was  clear  and  not  particu- 
larly  expansive.      Throughout  the  last  attack  the  patient  did 
not  seem  to  realize  that  his  condition  was  abnormal.  The  diag- 
nosis that  was  made  was  "Manic-depressive  insanity,  circular 
form."     For  a  time,  and  particularly  during  the  first  two  at- 


IO  FRANZ : 

tacks,  there  was  considerable  doubt  about  the  diagnosis.  At 
first  he  was  considered  a  case  of  "General  paralysis."  This 
was  due  largely  to  the  presence  of  certain  physical  signs,  e.g., 
no  pupillary  reaction  to  light,  but  good  reaction  to  accommo- 
dation. Later  the  tendo  Achillis  reflex  was  noted  to  be  absent, 
but  there  were  no  speech  defects,  no  tremors,  no  gait  disturb- 
ances, and  the  other  reflexes  were  found  to  be  normal.  In 
view  of  the  facts  that  there  is  no  noticeable  dementia,  and  that 
there  is  a  regular  alternation  of  the  depressions  and  excite- 
ments, it  seems  most  probable  that  the  man  is  not  a  case  of 
paresis.  If,  however,  it  happens  that  he  is  found  to  be  paretic, 
the  results  of  the  experiments  would  not  be  affected,  because 
at  the  time  the  tests  were  made  he  was  undoubtedly  in  an  ex- 
cited, maniacal  condition  without  dementia.  The  pupillary 
disturbance,  I  think  is  the  result  of  the  man's  occupation.  He 
has  to  look  alternately  at  bright  lights  and  to  dark  objects,  and 
this  would  tend  to  reduce,  perhaps  abolish,  the  light  reflex. 
P.,  was  a  bright  business  man,  age  48  at  the  time  of  his  ad- 
mission to  the  hospital,  May  29,  1904.  At  this  time  he  was 
greatly  excited  and  exhilarated,  and  remained  under  hospital 
care  until  December  5,  1904,  when  he  was  discharged  on  a  visit 
home.  A  month  later  he  was  brought  back  to  the  hospital 
very  depressed,  after  a  suicidal  attempt.  He  is  now  in  the  hos- 
pital (November,  1905).  The  course  of  his  disease  is  a  typical 
mania-melancholia,  the  manisch  depressive  Irresein  of  Kraepelin. 
Three  years  previous  to  the  present  attack  P.  had  bought  a 
business  on  a  friend's  advice  and  when  he  found  later  that  it 
was  much  worse  than  any  one  could  have  expected,  he  became 
melancholy.  This  abnormal  depression  was,  however,  only  ot 
a  short  ciuration,  a  couple  of  weeks.  Four  weeks  before  en- 
trance to  the  hospital  P  again  became  'worked  up'  over  his 
business,  but  this  time  the  insanity  took  on  the  excited  form. 
Much  extra  work  had  been  thrown  upon  him  in  the  business 
in  which  he  was  engaged,  and,  in  addition,  he  was  occupied 
with  the  affairs  of  another  concern  that  he  was  purchasing. 
He  took  a  trip  to  New  York  in  connection  with  the  new  busi- 
ness, and  there  was  very  erratic.  For  example,  it  is  said  that 
he  bought  500  pocket  knives  and  distributed  them  among  the 
street  gamins.  Returning  to  Massachusetts  he  wrecked  the 
furnishings  in  a  Pullman  coach,  was  arrested  and  finally 
brought  here  On  entrance  he  was  talkative,  excitable,  med- 
dled with  everything.  He  seemed  to  be  perfectly  clear  in  re- 
gard to  his  surroundings.  He  was  expansive,  euphoric,  and 
quite  convinced  of  his  own  power  and  excellency.  There  was, 
however,  no  absurdity  in  his  expansiveness  or  in  his  general 
behavior.  He  showed  insight  into  his  condition,  realized  that 
he  was  excited  and  irritable,  but  wanted  to  go  to  a  summer 


MENTAL  PROCESSES.  II 

resort  for  rest  rather  than  remain  in  the  hospital.  There  was 
a  marked  flight  of  ideas.  He  knew  the  other  patients  were  in- 
sane, knew  the  names  of  the  people,  and  was  oriented  as  to 
place  and  time.  He  remained  in  that  condition  for  about  five 
weeks.  Then  he  became  more  excited,  would  not  keep  his 
clothes  on,  was  violent  when  an  attempt  was  made  to  restrain 
him.  In  this  state  he  talked  of  religious  matters  and  sang  very 
often.  He  believed  that  he  saw  worlds  made,  and  that  he  lived 
in  another  world,  although  he  appeared  to  be  perfectly  clear  in 
regard  to  his  surroundings,  and  only  once  did  he  not  recognize 
people.  After  a  week  of  this  violent  excitement,  he  became 
calmer  although  still  much  exhilarated.  His  talk  was  volu- 
minous and  he  did  not  occupy  himself  beyond  writing  letters 
about  his  business  ventures  and  erotic  epistles,  all  comparable 
to  his  talk.  About  the  middle  of  September  the  patient  showed 
signs  of  improvement.  He  tended  to  keep  to  his  room  more 
and  not  to  meddle  with  things,  although  he  was  still  exhila- 
rated. He  began  to  have  some  insight  into  his  condition,  ex- 
plaining it  as  "brain  fever."  Later  he  ceased  his  continuous 
talking,  although  he  would  chatter  so  long  as  any  one  would 
ask  him  an  occasional  question.  He  gave  up  writing  letters, 
and  read  much  with  enjoyment.  Four  or  five  weeks  later  he 
was  not  so  active  but  remained  exhilarated.  His  talk,  how- 
ever, was  more  hopeful  than  his  financial  affairs  warranted.  It 
was  in  this  condition  that  he  first  came  to  the  laboratory,  and 
the  experiments  continued  until  he  was  discharged  in  Decem- 
ber. In  the  meantime,  he  gradually  became  more  natural  in 
actions  and  talk,  and  his  excitement  was  noticed  only  in  a 
great  activity  in  his  games  and  amusements.  As  has  been 
said,  a  month  later  he  returned  to  the  hospital  depressed  and 
retarded. 

During  the  time  of  the  experiments,  therefore,  B.  and  F. 
were  normal  subjects,  Ed.  and  Ev.  were  greatly  depressed  and 
retarded,  and  C.  and  P.  were  mildly  excited  and  expansive. 
The  four  last  cases,  possibly  with  the  exception  of  Ev.,  showed 
a  considerable  improvement  during  the  course  of  the  experi- 
ments both  in  the  laboratory  and  on  the  ward.  Ev.  improved 
greatly  in  rapidity  in  the  laboratory,  as  will  be  shown  later, 
and  he  talked  more  freely  and  louder,  but  on  the  ward  there 
was  no  appreciable  improvement.  At  no  time  did  any  of  the 
subjects  show  any  difficulty  in  thinking  and  there  was  in  none 
of  them  any  appreciable  (by  tests)  memory  or  attention  dis- 
order. 

All  the  subjects  seemed  willing  to  take  part  in  the  experi- 
ments; some  of  them  were  anxious  to  show  how  well  they  could 
do.  The  experiments  also  gave  them  a  change  of  scene  and 


I 2  FRANZ : 

occupation,  which  was  probably  an  agreeable  change  to  them 
from  the  monotony  of  their  ordinary  life.  The  results,  there- 
fore, are  as  trustworthy,  it  seems  to  me,  as  could  be  expected 
with  normal  people  of  the  same  grade  of  intelligence. 

The  series  was  continued  in  some  cases  for  a  period  of  fifteen 
weeks  with  intervals,  but  some  of  the  patients  were  not  used 
for  more  than  half  that  time.  The  results  from  all  the  subjects 
are  comparable  if  we  take  the  results  in  serial  weeks  as  will  be 
done.  The  degree  of  retardation  in  Ev.  and  Ed.  differed,  but 
so  far  as  the  general  problem  is  concerned,  this  variation  is  not 
of  great  importance.  C.  and  P.  at  the  time  of  the  experiments 
did  not  greatly  differ  in  the  degree  of  exhilaration,  but  if  there 
was  a  difference,  P.  was  probably  the  more  excitable. 

Description  of  Experiments.  All  the  work  to  be  reported  in 
the  present  paper  deals  with  the  time  of  certain  mental  proces- 
ses. A  number  of  other  experiments  were  made  on  accuracy, 
memory,  judgment,  and  apprehension,  but  these  will  not  be 
published  at  this  time.  The  object  of  the  time  tests  was  to 
determine  the  amount  of  slowing  in  the  cases  of  retardation, 
and  any  marked  increase  in  ability  in  the  exhilarated  patients 
who  were  convinced  of  their  own  excellency. 

The  following  seven  kinds  of  experiments  were  made  : 

A.  The  time  of  rapid  tapping. 

B.  The  time  of  the  simple  reaction  to  sound. 

C.  The  time  of  choice  reactions  to  sounds. 

D.  The  rapidity  of  reading. 

E.  The  time  of  discriminating  and  marking  out  letters. 

F.  The  time  of  adding. 

G.  The   time  of  discriminating  and   distributing  colored 
cards. 

In  addition  to  these  tests  a  few  other  time  measurements 
were  made  and  these  fewer  and  less  systematic  experiments 
will  be  mentioned  incidentally  in  the  text.  It  should  be  noted 
that  most  of  the  tests  were  made  as  simple  as  was  consistent 
with  accuracy,  in  order  that  the  same  kinds  of  experiments 
might  be  performed  later  on  the  wards  with  other  patients,  who 
could  not  conveniently  be  brought  to  the  laboratory,  or  who 
might  become  unduly  excited  in  a  strange  situation.  With 
the  exception  of  the  reaction  time  experiments,  the  tests  were 
of  such  a  character  that  the  patients  were  tolerably  familiar 
with  the  materials  and  methods  that  were  employed. 

The  results  have  been  grouped  by  weeks,  and  the  average 
weekly  averages  are  given  in  the  following  tables  unless  other- 
wise designated.  From  these  averages  the  average  variations 
were  calculated  and  these  are  also  given  in  the  tables.  The 
number  of  experiments  in  one  week  varied  with  the  character 
of  the  test.  In  such  tests  as  rapid  reading,  tapping  time,  etc., 


MENTAL  PROCESSES.  13 

usually  five  determinations  were  made  each  week,  but  in  the 
reaction  time  experiments  from  ten  to  one  hundred  were  made 
each  day.  The  numbers  of  experiments  of  each  kind  are  noted 
in  the  appropriate  tables.  The  arbitrary  weekly  division  of 
the  results  was  made  in  order  to  determine  the  practice  effect. 

A.  The  method  for  determining  maximum  rapidity  of  tap- 
ping was   as  follows  :  A  sheet  of  paper,   8  x  10  inches,  was 
placed  before  the  subject,   a  pencil  was  given  to  him,  and  he 
was  instructed  (and  shown)  to  tap  progressively  in  lines  back 
and  forth  on  the  paper  at  his  maximum  speed.     The  signals 
for  starting  and  stopping  were  explained   to  him,  and  the  ex- 
perimenter watched  the  tapping  of  the  subject  to  see  that  the 
beginning  and  end  of  the  process  coincided  with  the  signals. 
The  tapping  movement  was  made  by  the  forearm,  although  no 
insistence  was  made  on  this  point.     Most  of  the  subjects  re- 
mained seated  at  the  table  for  the  experiment,  but  one  (C. ) 
said  it  was  much  easier  for  him  to  stand  up  to  tap.     Thirty 
seconds  was  chosen  as  a  convenient  time  in  which  the  subject 
had  an  opportunity  of  warming  up  and  of  attaining  his  maxi- 
mum speed,  and  it  seemed  not  sufficiently  long  to  show  any 
plain  evidences  of  fatigue.  In  this  method  there  is  a  possibility 
of  a  constant  error  of  plus  one  tap,  but  probably  not  more,  and 
this  constant  error  was  probably  the  same  in  all  the  subjects. 
The  number  of  taps  in  the  thirty  seconds  was  counted,  and 
the  time  for  making  one  tap  was  found  by  dividing  the  total 
time  by  the  number  of  dots  on  the  paper.     The  differentiation 
of  the  parts  of  the  tapping  process,  i.  e.,  the  holding  down,  the 
holding  up,  etc.,  could  not  be  calculated  from  the  records. 
Such  details  were  considered  unnecessary  in  this  work.     Usu- 
ally only  one  experiment  of  this  character  was  made  each  day. 

B.  The  time  of  simple  reaction  to  sound  was  determined 
by  means  of  a  Hipp  chronoscope.     The  patient  was  instructed 
to  hold  down  the  electric  key,  and  to  release  it  so  soon  as  the 
sound  was  heard.     The  stimulus  was  produced  by  an  electric 
telegraph  sounder,  and  was  a  clear,  sharp,  rather  loud  sound. 
Two  or  three  days'  practice  in  reacting  to  the  sound  was  given 
to  each  subject  before   any  time   measurements  were  made. 
This  was  done  to  familiarize  the  subject  with  the  apparatus 
and  to  get  rid  of  any  possible  fear  of  electricity,  etc.,  that 
might  have  been  present  at  the  beginning.     None  of  the  pa- 
tients showed,  however,  the  least  sign  of  fright,  and  all  re- 
ported that  they  had  none.     In  each  day's  series  about  half  a 
dozen  practice  reactions  were  made  before  the  time  measure- 
ments were  taken.     All  the  subjects  were  right-handed,  and 
only  the  right  hand  was   used  in   these  experiments.     The 
chronoscope  was  controlled  frequently  by  a  fall  hammer.     In 


14  FRANZ : 

the  calculation  of  the  records  the  weekly  averages  and  the 
average  variations  were  determined. 

Experiments  on  the  reaction  to  light  and  tactile  stimuli  are 
planned  to  supplement  the  present  ones  on  sound,  and  reac- 
tions with  the  lips  as  well  as  with  the  hand.  For  a  solution 
of  the  general  problem,  i.  e.,  the  localization  in  the  nervous 
system  of  the  retardation  and  excitation  processes  such  experi- 
ments will  probably  be  necessary. 

C.  The  sound  apparatus  used  in  the  experiments  on  simple 
reactions  was  employed  in  the  choice  reaction  tests  to  give  a 
loud  sound  (same  intensity  as  in  simple  reactions),  and  for  the 
less  intense  sound  a  telegraph  key  was  hit  gently.     The  in- 
tensity and  quality  of  the  low  sound  differed  from  the  other 
sound,  and  the  intensity  probably  also  varied  in  the  different 
experiments.     The  right  hand  reacted  to  the  sound  for  the 
telegraph  sounder,  as  in  the  simple  reactions,  and  the  left  re- 
acted to  the  sound  from  the  telegraph  key.    The  reactions  with 
the  right  hand  were  used  for  comparison  with  the  times  of  the 
simple  reactions.     Only  these  right  hand  reactions  were  timed, 
but  the  subjects  did  not  know  that  the  left  hand  reactions  were 
not  being  taken.     This  procedure,  i.  e. ,  considering  only  the 
right  hand  reactions,  was  necessary  in  order  to  make  the  results 
comparable  with  the  results  for  the  simple  reactions. 

D.  The  time  necessary  to  read  aloud  one  word  was  found 
from  a  rapid  reading  of  a  page  of  printed  matter  from  three 
hundred  sixty  to  four  hundred  words  in  length.     The  subjects 
were  given  the  page  of  printing  and  instructed  to  read  aloud  at 
a  maximum  speed  to  the  end  of  the  page.     The  total  time 
divided  by  the  number  of  words  gave  the  average  time  for 
reading  one  word.     The  matter  which  was  read  was  unfamiliar 
to  all  the  subjects.     The  words,  however,  were  neither  peculiar 
nor  difficult.     The  type  was  lo-point,  single  leaded.     In  ex- 
periments such  as  these  the  time  will  vary  greatly  with  the 
individual,  since  education  and  previous  practice  play  great 
parts  in  the  ease  of  reading.     The  patients  who  were  used, 
however,  did  not  vary  very  much  in  their  average  of  intelli- 
gence, and  possibly  not  much  in  their  reading  practice.     It  is 
possible  that  C.  was  least  intelligent  and  the  least  read  of  all 
the  patients  and  Ev.  the  most  intelligent  and  most  widely  read. 
These  are  the  impressions  the  writer  got  from  careful  observa- 
tion of  the  subjects,  but  it  is  extremely  difficult,  almost  impos- 
sible, as  all  know,  to  make  any  accurate  estimate. 

E.  One  hundred  E's  in  a  number  of  words  with  an  average 
total  of  850  letters  were  to  be  discriminated  and  crossed  out  as 
rapidly  as  possible.    The  subjects  were  not  informed  how  many 
letters  there  were  to  be  crossed  out,  but  only  to  do  the  work 
accurately  and  rapidly.     This  experiment,  but  with  100  A's  in 


MENTAL  PROCESSES.  15 

a  total  of  500  letters,  was  used  in  the  tests  of  the  Columbia 
College  students.1  The  time  for  the  total  task  was  taken  by  a 
stop  watch.  The  number  of  omissions  was  noted.  The  pro- 
posed method  of  calculating  the  results  by  lengthening  the 
time  proportionately  to  the  number  of  omitted  letters  was 
tried,  but  was  given  up.  The  total  time  in  any  one  experi- 
ment is  the  sum  of  the  time  for  discriminating  the  850  letters, 
and  the  time  for  marking  the  100  E's.  In  the  tables  both  the 
total  time  and  the  number  of  omissions  are  given.  This  test 
was  very  unsatisfactory,  owing  to  the  two  factors  of  variability, 
time,  and  accuracy.  With  some  subjects  the  accuracy  did  not 
greatly  vary,  and  with  others  the  time  was  fairly  constant. 

F.  The  time  of  adding  was  obtained  from  a  series  of  twenty 
problems.  Each  problem  consisted  of  two  five-digit  figures, 

43678 

one  placed  over  the  other,  <?.  g. ,  34924.  I  had  prepared  twenty- 
eight  different  sheets,  each  with  twenty  problems,  and  each 
problem  differing  from  the  others.  These  sheets  were  used  in 
regular  order  for  each  of  the  subjects.  The  time  interval  be- 
tween the  first  and  second  use  of  any  particular  sheet  was  so 
long  that  there  could  be  no  memory  of  the  particular  problem. 
The  results  of  the  additions  were  written  by  the  subjects  below 
the  problems,  and  a  check  could  then  be  made  on  the  accuracy. 
The  total  time,  from  the  start  until  the  last  figure  in  the  sum 
of  the  twentieth  problem  was  written,  was  noted.  In  some 
cases,  particularly  Ev.  and,  at  first,  Ed.,  there  was  considerable 
hesitation  between  the  problems,  and  these  two  subjects  had  at 
first  to  be  'prodded'  to  proceed  to  the  next  problem.  There 
was,  accordingly,  considerable  lost  time,  and  this  also  was 
noted.  If  this  lost  time  is  subtracted  from  the  total  time  we 
can  find  the  actual  time  for  the  addition  and  the  writing  of  the 
answers.  In  the  tables  in  which  these  results  are  found  there 
will  beuoted  the  designations,  'total  time'  and  'actual  time.' 
These  results  are  to  be  understood  as  explained  above.  No 
determinations  of  the  'actual  time'  could  be  made  on  the  writer. 

The  time  lost  between  the  problems  could  be  determined 
only  approximately;  the  error  may  be  as  much  as  one  half 
second,  but  probably  there  were  sufficient  plus  and  minus  vari- 
ations in  the  individual  estimations  of  the  nineteen  intervals  to 
counterbalance  to  some  extent. 

F.  The  discrimination  and  marking  of  the  E's  proved  in  so 
many  ways  a  difficult  test  to  interpret  that  a  few  weeks  after 

1  See  Cattell  and  Farrand:  Physical  and  Mental  measurements  of 
the  Students  of  Columbia  University,  Psychol.  Review  (1896),  III;  and 
Wissler:  The  Correlation  of  Mental  and  Physical  Tests,  Psychol.  Re- 
view Monograph  Suppl.f  No.  16,  1901,  pp.  62. 


1 6  FRANZ : 

the  beginning  of  the  series  on  Ed.,  Ev.,  and  F.  I  introduced 
the  additional  experiment  of  discrimination  and  distribution  of 
colored  cards.  Ten  cards  each  of  a  different  color  were  placed 
in  a  semicircle  on  the  table  in  front  of  the  subject,  and  he  was 
given  a  pack  of  one  hundred  colored  cards,  ten  cards  of  each 
of  the  colors  represented  on  the  table.  He  was  instructed  to 
distribute  the  cards  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  to  place  the 
cards  of  one  color  in  the  appropriate  place.  The  cards  were  so 
shuffled  that  no  two  cards  of  the  same  color  came  together  in 
the  pack.  Each  card  was  three  inches  square.  The  colors  I 
used  were:  white,  light  pink,  pink,  red,  yellow,  gray  green, 
very  light  green,  light  blue,  blue,  gray.  The  cards  were 
placed  in  the  foregoing  order  beginning  either  at  the  left  or 
right  hand.  Sometimes  the  white,  pink,  red  end  of  the  semi- 
circle was  placed  at  the  right,  sometimes  at  the  left.  No  regu- 
lar order  was  used  and  no  habit  in  that  respect  could  be  formed. 
There  was  sufficient  difference  in  the  colors  to  make  them 
easily  distinguished  from  each  other,  but  the  differences  be- 
tween white  and  light  pink,  light  green  and  light  blue,  and 
gray  and  green  gray,  were  on  the  other  hand  sufficiently  small 
to  demand  close  attention  to  the  distribution.  Occasionally  a 
subject  would  put  two  cards  at  one  time  in  the  pile,  the  second 
card  not  having  been  handled  and  discriminated.  This  was 
always  counted  as  one  error.  More  often  the  mistakes  were 
mistakes  iu  discrimination.  The  cards  which  were  the  most 
difficult  to  discriminate  were  sometimes  confused,  for  example, 
a  gray  would  be  placed  on  the  green  gray  pile.  Sometimes  in 
these  piles  there  would  be  collections  as  follows,  pink,  pink, 
pink,  white,  white,  white,  etc.,  and  white,  white,  white,  pink, 
pink,  etc.  Each  of  these  arrangements  was  counted  one  mis- 
take, since  the  discrimination  and  sorting  went  on  just  as  if 
the  white  and  pink  positions  had  been  interchanged.  The  time 
given  in  the  tables  is  the  time  obtained  plus  a  proportionate 
amount  for  the  errors  of  omission. 

In  the  tables  the  averages  are  grouped  according  to  the  serial 
weeks,  to  make  the  results  of  all  the  subjects  as  comparable  as 
possible.  The  experiments  were  not,  however,  made  at  the 
same  time.  The  series  on  Ed. ,  Ev.  and  F.  were  begun  August 
22-27,  B's  series,  Sept.  5-10,  and  the  series  on  C.  and  P.  Oct. 
23-29,  1904.  A  few  experiments  were  made  on  Ev.  Au- 
gust 21,  22,  23  and  24,  1905.  S.,  a  subject  in  another  series 
of  experiments,  but  whose  results  will  be  considered  in  the 
appropriate  places,  was  used  July  6-21,  August  8-19,  and  Au- 
gust 21-26,  1905.  All  the  experiments  on  C.,  P.  and  S.  were 
begun  on  the  same  day.  The  experiments  on  sorting  the  col- 
ored cards,  it  has  been  mentioned,  were  not  begun  for  some 


MBNTAI,  PROCESSES.  17 

time  after  the  other  tests  with  B. ,  Ed. ,  Kv. ,  and  F. ,  and  the 
reaction  time  experiments  were  not  begun  until  the  third  week 
of  the  tapping,  reading,  etc.,  on  Ed.,  Ev.,  and  F. 

Experimental  Results.  Tapping  time.  The  results  of  the 
tapping  experiments  are  given  in  Table  I.  Here  we  find  that 
on  the  whole  the  two  excited  subjects  show  no  variation  from 
the  normal,  but  that  the  retarded  patients  are  much  slower 
than  either  the  normal  or  excited  subjects.1  B.  and  F.  start 

TABI,B  I. 

Weekly  averages  of  tapping  time  in  thousandths  of  a  second.     The  average 
variations  are  given  below  the  averages.     The  numbers  of  experi- 
ments, when  more  or  less  than  five,  are  in  parentheses. 


Serial 
weeks. 

i 

Normal. 
B.            F. 

156-7      153-7 
2.6          5.7 

(4)          (6) 

Depressed. 

Ed.          Ev. 

221.8         299.3 

9-8        45-2 
(3) 

Excited. 
C.            P. 
180.5      149.0 
9-8          5-5 

(4)          (4) 

2 

153-2 

3-4 

139-7 
1.8 

(3) 

195.6 

23-4 

264.2 
16.2 



3 

160.8 
1.9 

132-4 
8.6 

172.2 

6.2 

(6) 

230.7 
9.6 
(6) 



4 



127.2 

2.1 

169.4 
3-5 

235-o 
3-2 

184.6      145-4 
6.7          2.6 

5 

128.6 

4-7 

165.4 
3-9 

231.0 
13-6 



6 

161.8 
3-4 

(4) 







185.0      140.2 
2.4          i.o 

8 



120.4 

2-5 

164.0 
5-6 

232.0 
4.8 

—      — 

9 

157-0 
4.0 

— 





—      — 

ii 



121.  2 
1.8 

161.6 

4-7 

224.4 
3-9 

—      — 

15 



127.0 

3-6 



234-4 
5-9 

—      — 

General 
average. 

157-8 
(23) 

I3J-4 
(39) 

178.4 
(36) 

240.7 
(39) 

183.6      144.6 
-    (14)        (14) 

1  Dresslar  (Some  influences  which  affect  the  rapidity  of  voluntary 
movements,  Amer.  Jour.  Psychol.,  1892,  IV,  514-527)  found  that  it 
took  37  seconds,  to  make  300  taps  on  the  first  day  of  his  series,  /'.  e., 
0.123  sec.  for  one  tap.  He  does  not  state  whether  or  not  this  experi- 
ment had  been  preceded  by  any  practice  tests.  His  general  conclusion 


i8 


FRANZ : 


with  approximately  the  same  speed,  but,  while  F.  improved 
and  greatly  lessened  his  time,  B.  did  not  gain  in  speed  with 
practice.  Neither  C.  nor  P.  show  much  practice  effect.  The 
slight  improvement  shown  by  P.  is  due  mainly  to  one  chance 
result  on  the  third  day  of  the  first  week,  when  his  time  was 
greatly  slowed,  to  .157  second.  On  this  day  it  was  noted  that 
P.  was  greatly  distractible,  and  that  he  kept  talking  through- 
out the  experiment.  If  this  result  be  excluded  there  would  be 
no  difference  between  the  results  of  the  first  and  the  fourth 
weeks.  This  distractibility  was  noted  throughout  the  series 
on  both  C.  and  P.,  particularly  at  the  beginning.  The  prac- 
tice effect  shown  by  Ed.  is  coincident  with  his  general  mental 
improvement,  and  it  is  difficult  to  estimate  how  much  of  the 
increased  speed  is  due  to  the  recovery  of  the  patient  and  how 
much  to  the  practice.  In  this  and  in  the  other  experiments, 
as  will  be  shown  later,  Ev.  attained  his  greatest  speed  after 
two  weeks'  practice,  and  thereafter  the  extra  practice  did  not 
seem  to  decrease  the  time  for  the  performance  of  any  of  the 
tests.  This  is  very  different  to  the  result  found  with  Ed.,  and 
to  that  obtained  from  another  depressed  and  retarded  subject, 
S.  The  results  of  similar  experiments  on  S.  over  a  period  of 
thirteen  weeks  are  given  in  Table  II.1  S.  shows  the  gradual 
increased  speed  from  practice,  but  in  this  case,  it  is  also  impos- 
sible to  estimate  the  amounts  due  to  recovery  and  to  practice. 
The  fact  that  there  is  an  increased  speed  from  the  ninth  to  the 
thirteenth  weeks,  when  there  were  no  experiments  in  the  in- 
terval, would  indicate  that  a  large  part  of  the  'practice  effect" 
was  due  to  the  recovery.  Similar  reductions  in  time  are  noted 
in  the  figures  given  by  Ed.  for  the  fifth  and  eighth  weeks,  and 
for  the  eighth  and  eleventh  weeks. 

TABLE  II. 

Weekly  averages  of  tapping  time  in  thousandths  of  a  second. 
Subject,  S.,  retarded  depression. 


Serial  weeks. 

I 

2 

3 

6 

7 

8 

9 

13 

Averages, 

243-3 

22O.O 

204.7 

200.7 

I9I-5 

790-5 

193.0 

178.0 

Average  varia- 
tions, 

14-3 

13-5 

6.9 

7.6 

6.2 

7.6 

I.O 

7-0 

Numbers  of  ex- 
periments. 

4 

12 

10 

10 

12 

12 

2 

2 

from  his  work  is  that  the  "normal  rate  for  most  rapid  voluntary 
movement  of  the  right  wrist  was  found  to  average  8.5  taps  per  second." 
Other  tapping  results,  but  with  restricted  movements,  will  be  found 
in  an  article  by  Bryan:  On  the  development  of  voluntary  motor  ability, 
Amer.  Jour.  Psychol.  (1892),  V,  125-204. 
1  S.  had  been  used  in  another  part  of  this  general  research,  and  his 


MENTAL  PROCESSES.  19 

In  five  experiments  Ca.,  another  retarded  subject,  averaged 
162.8  taps  in  30  seconds,  average  time  for  one  tap  0.184  sec- 
In  these  five  experiments  there  was  noticeable  some  practice, 
but  owing  to  mental  confusion  it  was  deemed  advisable  not  to 
continue  the  work.  Pr.,  a  depressed  case  without  retardation 
but  with  a  feeling  of  inadequacy,1  showed  considerable  speed 
in  movement.  Two  experiments  averaged  196.5  taps  in  thirty 
seconds,  average  time  for  one  tap  0.153  sec.  Arranging  the 
subjects  in  the  order  of  rapidity  we  have:  F.,  P.,  Pr. ,  B. ,  Ed., 
C.,  Ca.,  S.,  and  Ev.,  if  all  the  experiments  are  grouped,  but  if 
the  first  week's  results  are  considered  alone  we  find  the  follow- 
ing order :  P.,  Pr.,  F.,  B.,  C.,  Ca.,  Ed.,  S.,  and  Ev.  The  last 
four  subjects,  it  will  be  remembered,  were  retarded  at  the  time 
the  experiments  were  made. 

The  average  variations  are  relatively  small,  with  two  excep- 
tions, viz.,  Ev's  first  week,  and  Ed's  second  week.  In  both 
cases  the  size  of  the  deviation  is  due  to  one  relatively  slow 
day. 

Reaction  time.  The  results  of  the  simple  and  choice  reac- 
tions to  sounds  will  be  found  in  Tables  III,  IV,  and  V.  The 
experiments  on  B.,  C.,  and  P.  were  begun  at  the  same  time  as 
the  other  tests.  Those  on  Ed.  and  Ev.  were  not  begun  until 
the  third  week.  Ev.  is  the  only  subject  to  show  any  great 
variation  from  the  normal  in  either  simple  or  choice  reactions. 

TABI.E  III. 

Weekly  averages  of  simple  reactions  to  sound,  in  thousandths  of  a  second. 

The  average  variations  are  given  below  the  averages.     The 

numbers  of  experiments  are  in  parentheses. 


Serial 
weeks. 

Normal. 
B.            F. 

Depressed. 
Ed.        Ev. 

Excited. 
C.           P. 

I 

164.6      157.1 
15.0        17.9 
(80)      (140) 

I9I-3 
35-2 

(120) 

299.0 

79-7 
(120) 

182.9      J85-o 
22.7        23.5 
(240)       (240) 

2 

167.2 
18.7 
(100) 

181.3 

20.8 
(100) 

209.2 
53-3 

(100) 



3 

165.0 

178.2 

18.7 

(100) 

208.3 

41-5 
(100) 

12.2 

(TOO) 

results  will  be  mentioned  in  this  paper  in  connection  with  the  appro- 
priate experiments.  S.,  a  business  man,  was  44  years  old  at  the  time 
the  experiments  were  made.  He  had  had  two  previous  attacks  of  de- 
pression with  retardation.  The  attack  in  which  he  was  the  subject  of 
some  experiments  began  in  March,  1905,  and  he  was  discharged  from 
the  hospital  in  September.  A  full  account  of  the  work  on  S.  will  ap- 
pear in  a  forthcoming  number  of  the  American  Journal  of  Insanity. 

17.  e.,  a  feeling  that  things  are  more  difficult  to  do,  and  a  disinclina- 
tion to  do  things. 


2O  FRANZ : 

TABI.E  III.     Concluded. 


Serial                   Normal, 
weeks.                B.            F. 

Depressed. 
Ed.           Ev. 

Excited. 
C.            F. 

158.4 
4                   14-0 
(54o) 

186.1 
34-3 
(530) 

224.0 
48.0 
(610) 

173-7 
16.7 
(300) 

187-5 
158 
(300) 

159-9 
6                    14.3 
(80) 



282.9 
62.6 

(100) 

167.9 
14.0 
(240) 

195-2 
19.2 
(270) 

163-6 
9                   ii.  o 
(300) 

175-7 
19.1 
(300) 

3"-5 
57-i 
C3°o) 

13 

342.8 
73-6 
(38o) 

If  the  average  simple  reaction  time  obtained  in  the  tests  of 
college  students 1  be  taken  as  the  normal  average  for  unprac- 
ticed  subjects  we  find  the  results  of  B.  and  F. ,  the  two  normal 
subjects  used  in  this  work,  differ  very  little  from  the  normal 
average.  The  averages  of  C.,  Ed.,  and  P.  for  the  first  week 
do  not  greatly  exceed  Wissler's  determinations  plus  the  prob- 
able error  (i.  e.,  158.7-4-18.9).  Ed.  always  reported  that  in 
this  experiment  his  attention  was  directed  to  making  the  move- 
ment. If  this  statement  be  accepted  as  evidence  of  motor  re- 
actions, his  reactions  may  be  considered  slow.  It  should  be 
noted,  however,  that  when  well  enough  to  be  discharged  his 
average  (ninth  week)  was  175.7.  Another  retarded  subject, 
S.,2  averaged  for  350  experiments,  50  on  each  of  seven  days, 
215.4  (probably  sensory  reactions).  The  first  set  of  twenty-five 
reactions  averaged  325.6  and  the  last  set  152.2.  This  is  a  de- 
cided slowing  in  the  first  experiments,  and  there  is  a  wonder- 
ful practice  effect  in  the  increased  speed  of  the  reaction.  The 
results  of  the  tests  of  the  Columbia  students  are,  however,  not 
directly  comparable  to  the  averages  for  the  first  week  of  my 
subjects.  It  wpuld  be  more  justifiable  to  compare  the  results 
obtained  on  the  first  day  from  the  subjects  I  used.  In  this  case 
it  should  be  remembered,  as  has  been  noted  above,  that  the 
subjects  were  practiced  for  a  time  before  any  time  measure- 
ments were  taken.  The  results  of  the  first  day's  simple  reac- 
tion averages  are  as  follows :  B.,  164.  i ;  Ed. ,  144.  i ;  Ev. ,  446.2; 
C.,  185.9;  P-i  192.9.  The  perfectly  normal  character  of  Ed's 

'Wissler:  The  Correlation  of  Mental  and  Physical  Tests.  Psycho- 
logical Review  Monograph  Supplement,  1901,  III,  No.  16,  pp.  62. 
Wnndt  gives  i2Off  to  i8o<r  as  averages  of  normal  subjects,  Physiol. 
Psychol.,  Ill,  p.  416. 

2  See  above  for  a  very  brief  account  of  his  condition. 


MENTAL   PROCESSES.  21 

reaction  on  the  first  day  is  remarkable.  On  the  remaining  five 
days  of  this  week,  however,  this  subject  averaged  respectively 
213.0,  189.8,  213.8,  212. o,  and  195.7.  The  reactions  on  these 
days  are  slowed,  and  are  not  consistent  with  the  results  of  the 
first  day.  The  averages  for  the  excited  patients,  C.  and  P. , 
show  no  shortening  of  the  reaction  time,  but  on  the  contrary 
if  the  difference  to  the  normal  is  considered  sufficient  to  notice 
it  is  a  decided  slowing.  The  results  which  I  have  obtained 
should  be  compared  with  the  results  of  other  investigations. 
The  averages  given  by  Richet 1  for  simple  reactions  to  sound 
are  194  for  cases  of  melancholia  and  156  for  mania.  Bevan 
Lewis's  experiments  show  a  simple  reaction  to  sound  in  melan- 
cholia to  be  very  long,  0.23  second.2  The  average  for  five 
maniacal  patients  was  186.  Some  of  Lewis's  patients,  that 
were  greatly  depressed,  gave  very  rapid  reactions,  e.  g.,  J.  H. 
B.,  .13  sec.;  C.  K.,  .14  sec.;  and  J.  E.,  .13  sec.  None  of  his 
excited  patients  gave  average  simple  reactions  less  than  .17 
sec.  In  Marie  Walitzky's  experiments  on  the  reaction  time 
to  sound,  it  was  found  that  in  two  cases  of  excitement  the  sim- 
ple reaction  was  .I72.8  v.  Tschisch  gives  the  average  of  150 
simple  reactions  to  sound  by  a  patient  recovering  from  mania 
0.07  second,4  but  I  feel  confident  that  this  time  is  too  short  to 
be  considered  typical  of  these  cases.  No  other  observer  has,  to 
my  knowledge,  found  such  a  shortening  of  the  time.  Janet 
has  also  made  numerous  determinations  of  the  reaction  time  in 
depressed  conditions.5  He  seems  to  find  in  these  conditions  a 
slowing  of  the  reactions.  The  results  obtained  by  Buccola6  I- 

^Dictionnaire  de  Physiologie,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  29.  Article  Cerveau.  No 
definite  information  is  given  regarding  the  cases  used  in  obtaining 
these  results,  and  it  is  impossible  to  draw  any  comparison  with  the 
retarded  patients  with  whom  I  worked.  Richet  says  that  his  results 
are  averages  of  many  observers. 

2W.  Bevan  Lewis:  Text-book  of  Mental  Diseases.  London,  1899, 
pp.  164,  364,  and  365.  The  designations  of  the  subjects  do  not  indicate 
whether  or  not  retardation  was  present. 

8Walitzky:  Contribution  a  I'e'tude  des  mensurations  psychome"tri- 
ques  chez  les  alienees,  Revue  Philos.,  1889,  XXVIII,  583-595.  These 
cases,  it  should  be  mentioned,  are  maniacal  conditions  in  general 
paralysis. 

*W.  v.  Tschisch :  Ueber  die  Zeitdauer  der  einfachen  psychischen 
Vorgange  bei  Geisteskrankheiten,  Neurol.  Centralblatt,  1885,  IV,  217. 

8  See  particularly  Nlvroses  et  idSes  fixes,  2  vols.,  Paris,  1898.  Janet's 
results  are  given  in  the  form  of  curves.  The  printing  or  the  engrav- 
ing of  the  cuts  is  so  badly  done  that  it  was  impossible,  even  with  the 
aid  of  a  microscope,  to  determine  the  figures  which  he  has  obtained. 
The  general  character  of  the  curves  give  a  fair  idea  of  his  results, 
however.  In  the  case  of  depression,  Bei,  it  appears  that  the  simple 
reaction  to  sound  averaged  from  200  to  220  (Vol.  II,  p.  67). 

6  Buccola :  La  legge  del  tempo  nei  fenomeni  del  pensiero.  Biblio- 
teca  scientifica  internal.,  Vol.  XXXVII.  The  work  done  on  the  in- 
sane by  this  investigator  is  said  to  be  very  good,  but  I  have  been  un- 
'able  to  get  the  articles.  His  work  is  referred  to  by  Walitzky. 


22  FRANZ : 

regret  to  say  I  have  not  seen.    The  debile  whose  reaction  times 
are  given  by  Pelletier  is  probably  a  case  of  dementia.1 

The  choice  reaction  times  obtained  by  other  experimenters 
for  normal,  depressed  and  excited  students  are  very  varied.  In 
choice  experiments  similar  to  those  made  by  me  Tischer  found 
on  nine  subjects  an  average  of  316, 2  with  an  individual  varia- 
tion from  293  to  357.  In  Kraepelin's  laboratory  numerous  ex- 
periments on  the  choice  reaction  times  gave  averages  from  250 
to  350.  Walitzky  found  the  choice  reactions  of  two  excited 
cases  to  average  653,  although  the  simple  reaction  was  only 
172.*  v.  Tschisch4  found  a  corresponding  and  almost  propor- 
tionate increase  in  his  case  of  'recovering  mania.'  Lefmann,6 

TABLE  IV. 

Weekly  averages  of  choice  reaction  times  in  thousandths  of  a  second.     The 

average  variations  are  given  below  the  averages.     The  numbers 

of  experiments  are  in  parentheses. 


Serial 
weeks. 

I 

Normal. 
B.            F. 
250.1       192.4 
36-3        28.1 
(40)         (60) 

Depressed. 
Ed.        Ev. 
268.0      432.0 
53-3        82.3 
(60)         (60) 

Excited. 
C.           P. 

298.4      258.9 
60.7         41.5 
(120)       (120) 

2 

239-4 

251.2 

39-8 
(50) 

306.8 
71.8 
(50) 

22.9 

(50) 

3 

234-8 
16.2 
(50) 

223.9 

20.6 

(50) 

338-I 
75-2 
(50) 

4 

236.9 

29-3 

(280) 

257.2 
44.1 
(320) 

304-5 
55-8 
(330) 

276.9      262.1 

47-i         32.3 
(150)       (150) 

6 

230.3 

308.5 
47.1 
(50) 

257.4      234.0 
58.0        38.7 
(120)       (120) 

25.6 

(40) 

9 

236.8 
27.9 
(180) 

241.9 

35-6 
(ISO) 

3T3-4 
48-5 
(240) 

13 



357-6 
24.7 
(210) 

1  Pelletier :  Les  lots  morbides  de  I' association  des  idles.  Paris,  1904. 
See  p.  133. 

2Wundt:  Physiol.  Psychol.,  III,  461. 

8  Op.  cit. 

*  Op.  cit. 

6  Lefmann :  Ueber  psychomotorische  Storungen  in  Depressionszu- 
standen,  Psychol.  Arbeiten,  1904,  IV,  603-668. 


MENTAL  PROCESSES.  23 

TABLE  V. 

Differences  between  weekly  averages  of  choice  and  simple  reaction  times 
in  thousandths  of  a  second. 


Serial 
weeks. 

I 

Normal. 
B.            F. 
85-5        35-3 

Depressed. 
Ed.        Ev. 
76.7      133.0 

Excited. 
C.           P. 
105.5        73-9 

2 

72.2        

69.9 

97.6 



3 

69.8        

45-7 

129.8 



4 

78.5        

71.1 

80.5 

103.2        74.6 

6 

70.4           — 

— 

25-6 

89.5        38-8 

9 

73-2        

66.2 

1.9 



13 



14.8 

working  in  Kraepelin's  laboratory,  obtained  the  following 
averages  respectively  for  six  typical  cases  of  depression-retarda- 
tion (200  choice  reactions  each,  no  simple  reactions  are  re- 
ported): 325,  371,  406,  469,  474,  685.  The  average  vari- 
ations for  Ivefnuann's  subjects  were  very  large.1 

F's  choice  reactions  are  very  short.  This  is,  I  think,  due  to 
the  fact  that  he  knew  the  conditions  of  the  experiment — 
that  the  reactions  of  the  left  hand  were  not  being  considered. 
Although  an  attempt  was  made  to  react  naturally  with  both 
hands,  the  knowledge  of  the  methods  tended  to  make  him  pay 
more  attention  to  the  right  hand  and  the  loud  sound.  This 
was  noticeable  in  that  several  times  he  failed  to  react  with  the 
left  hand  at  the  proper  time.  The  times  given  by  B. ,  C.,  Ed., 
and  P.  are  shorter  than  those  of  the  majority  of  Tischer's 
eleven  normal  subjects.  Ev.,  however,  took  a  much  longer 
time  to  differentiate  the  two  sounds  and  to  react  properly. 
The  two  excited  subjects,  C.  and  P.,  do  not  show  any  in- 
creased rapidity,  and  in  fact  their  lowest  weekly  averages  are 
not  so  low  as  the  lowest  weekly  averages  of  Ed's  experiments. 

The  results  of  experiments  with  S.  were  about  the  same  as 
with  Ed.  The  general  average  for  seven  days  was  256.9.  On 

1  The  results  of  Lefmann's  work  are  mentioned  here  mainly  for  the 
sake  of  completeness.  It  seems  to  me  that  his  methods  of  experi- 
mentation or  of  calculation  must  have  had  considerable  errors  which 
do  not  appear  from  the  description.  Only  in  this  way  can  I  under- 
stand the  results  from  a  maniacal  patient,  Ba.,  who  in  50  choice  reac- 
tions had  an  average  of  153  and  an  average  variation  of  160.  In  other 
respects  the  article  is  not  good.  The  author  keeps  referring  to  other 
work  for  methods,  especially  to  work  of  Kraepelin  or  his  pupils,  and 
does  not  give  any  other  indication  in  his  article  of  what  is  there  at- 
tempted. For  example,  in  the  article  L.  does  not  state  what  kinds  of 
stimuli  were  used  in  the  reaction  experiments.  For  this  we  must  re- 
fer to  a  monograph  by  Kraepelin  published  twelve  years  before. 


24  FRANZ : 

the  first  day  of  his  series  he  averaged  450.9,  and  on  the  last 
day  218.8.  It  should  be  remarked,  however,  that  at  the  time 
the  last  experiments  were  made  S.  was  practically  well. 

The  differences  between  the  simple  and  choice  reaction  times 
are  about  normal  in  five  of  the  subjects.  In  the  case  of  Ev.,  on 
certain  days  the  simple  reaction  time  equalled  and  sometimes 
exceeded  the  choice  reaction  time.1  It  is  a  striking  fact  that  the 
choice  time  in  the  two  excited  subjects,  who  were  supposed  to 
have  rapid  associational  processes,  is  not  shorter  than  the  nor- 
mal choice  time  or  the  choice  time  of  Ed. 

Considering  the  reaction  times  as  a  whole  it  is  apparent  that 
the  excitability  of  the  maniacal  patients  is  not  evidenced  by  an 
increase  in  the  speed,  and  that  the  retardation  is  not  neces- 
s^rily  a  decrease  in  the  speed  with  which  a  movement  is 
initiated. 2 

The  average  time  of  reading  one  word  has  been  determined 
by  Cattell  for  himself  to  be  o.  138  second,  and  Richet8  has  found 
that  he  is  able  to  speak,  or  to  think  about  ten  syllables  in  one 
second.  The  results  on  the  six  subjects  of  the  present  work 
are  given  in  Table  VI.  The  time  taken  by  my  two  normal 
subjects,  B.  and  F.,  is  much  longer  than  that  taken  by  Cattell. 
P.,  an  excited  subject,  took  about  the  same  time  as  B. ;  C., 
Ed.,  and  Ev.  are  distinctly  slow.4  As  the  experiments  pro- 
gressed the  normal  and  depressed  subjects  improved,  but  the 
excited  patients  did  not.  The  percentages  of  improvement  due 
to  the  exercise  in  this  test,  i.  e. ,  one  hundred  minus  the  best 
weekly  average  divided  by  the  average  for  the  first  week,  are 
as  follows:  B.,  10%;  F.,  13%;  Ed.,  37%;  and  Ev.,  18%. 

1  These  results  have  been  considered  in  some  detail  in  a  previous 
paper.  Franz:    Anomalous  Reaction  Times  in  a  case  of  Manic-depres- 
sive Depression.     Psychol.  Bulletin,  1905,  II,  225-232.     Similar  results 
were  obtained  in  later  experiments  with  S.     The  condition,  therefore, 
is  one  which  may  be  more  or  less  characteristic  of  certain  cases  of  re- 
tardation.    A  full  account   of   the  work   on   S.  will  be  found  in  the 
American  Journal  of  Insanity,   Franz  and  Hamilton  :  The  effects  of 
exercise  upon  the  retardation  in  conditions  of  depression,  1905. 

2  From   the  results  of    fatigue  experiments    Hoch   has  concluded 
that  the  retardation  comes  principally  at  the  beginning  of  a   move- 
ment;   On  certain  studies  with  the  Ergograph,  Journal  of  Nervous 
and  Mental  Diseases,  1901,  XXVIII,  620-628.     The  present  series  of 
experiments  do  not  bear  out  this  conclusion,  but  I  prefer  to  await  fur- 
ther results  before  making  any  definite  denial  on  this  point.     I  be- 
lieve the  explanation  offered  by  Hoch  for  the  conditions  which  he 
found  to  be  the  most  plausible  one,  although  it  does  not  fit  the  results 
of  the  present  work. 

8  Dictionnaire,  III,  p.  10. 

4 The  calculation  of  a  few  records  on  the  basis  of  syllables  gave  for 
F.  .104  sec.  for  reading  one  syllable.  The  time  of  the  other  subjects 
for  reading  a  syllable  may  be  determined  approximately  by  multiply- 
ing the  figures  in  the  table  by  .6. 


MENTAL  PROCESSES.  25 

TABLE  VI. 

Weekly  average  time  in  thousandths  of  a  second  for  reading  one  word. 
The  average  variations  are  given  below  the  averages.     The  num- 
bers of  experiments,  when  more  or  less  than  five, 
are  in  parentheses. 


Serial                 Normal, 
weeks.               B.            F. 
276.3      198.0 
i                    19.9          5.0 

(4)          (2) 

Depressed. 
Ed.        Ev. 
545-o      394-o 
86.5          9.0 

(4)           (2) 

Excited. 
C.            P 
329.0      266.0 
16.0        10.0 

(4)          (4) 

277.6 

2                           14.2 

179.8 
ii.  8 

U) 

497.2 

22.6 

323-0 
24.4 



253-4 

3                   22.3 

183.5 
12.5 

(4) 

470.0 
I4.O 

(6) 

337-8 
5-7 
(6) 



4 

186.6 
2-5 

451-2 
13.8 

346.2 

12.2 

342.6      269.2 
13.9        18.2 

5 

176.8 
7-3 

378.8 

29.8 

321.6 
20-5 

249.8 
6                     9-5 

(4) 



— 

368.8      276.8 
28.0          6.6 

8 

172.0 
6.8 

347-8 

12.6 

322.6 
24-3 



248.6 
9                   16.3 

181.2 
9.8 

342-0 
14.0 

329.0 

18.0 

15                  — 

194.4 
4-9 



373-0 
10.4 



TABLE  VII. 

Weekly  averages  oj  time  in  seconds  for  marking  100  e's.     The  average 

variations  are  given  below  the  averages,  and  on  the  third  line  the 

average  number  of  mistakes.    The  nwnbers  of  experiments, 

when  more  or  less  than  five,  are  given  in  parentheses. 


Serial                  Normal. 

repressed. 

Excited. 

•weeks.              B. 

F. 

Ed. 

Ev. 

C. 

P. 

no.  2 
i                    13-8 

96.0 
6.7 

145-2 
13.6 

I3I-5 
32-8 

135-8 
7-4 

149.2 
18.8 

3-2 

2.3 

7-3 

(6) 

33-2 
(6) 

13-5 

(4) 

14-5 
(4) 

108.8 

82.6 

123.6 

153-6 

2                             7-0 

1.8 

o!6 

14-7 
5-4 

17.1 
18.4 

26  FRANZ : 

TABLE  VII.     Concluded. 


Serial 
weeks. 

3 

Normal. 
B.            F. 
ur.o        83.4 
6.0         9.3 

2-4             O.2 

Depressed. 
Ed.          Ev. 
104.6      152.0 
6.7        13.6 
5.8        16.0 

Excited. 
C.           P. 

4 





132.8      143.4 

4-6            12.  1 
II-4              2-4 

6 

112.  O           8O.O 
7.2             8.5 

1.8         0.3 

(4) 

108.0      154.4 
5-2        10.3 
6.0        18.6 

130.6         I3I.O 

5-5          3-6 

7-4              2.0 

9 

103.6        79.6 
8.1          5-9 

O.2             O.O 

102.6      163.4 
6.3        16.5 

3-4            12.0 



13 

76.0 

7-5 

0.0 

(4) 

166.8 

8.2 

14.2 



The  discriminating  and  marking  of  the  one  hundred  letters  in 
the  paragraph  of  printed  matter  was  at  first  a  very  slow  process 
in  both  the  depressed  and  excited  patients.  Table  VII  gives 
the  results  of  the  six  subjects.  The  averages  and  average  vari- 
ations as  well  as  the  average  number  of  errors  are  given. 
These  experiments  were  begun  at  the  same  time  as  the  reac- 
tion experiments,  i.  e.,  3d  week  for  F.,  Ed.,  and  Ev.  As  the 
experiments  progressed  there  was  an  increase  in  speed  and  a 
decrease  in  the  number  of  omitted  letters  for  all  the  subjects 
except  Ev.  Practice  increased  Ev's  time  but  also  increased  his 
accuracy.  These  results  cannot  be  directly  compared  with  the 
results  obtained  from  college  students,1  but  in  comparison 
both  B.  and  F.  are  quite  rapid  in  the  performance  of  the  task. 
Neither  C.  nor  P.  are  so  speedy  as  the  two  normal  subjects, 
and  P.  is  slower  than  the  retarded  patient,  Ev.  There  is  not 
much  difference  in  time  for  the  first  weeks  of  C.  and  Ed.,  C. 
was  a  trifle  faster,  but  Ed.  was  considerably  more  accurate. 
Ed.  was  quicker  than  B.  after  the  second  week,  but  he  did  not 
approach  in  accuracy  to  that  of  B.  Ca. ,  another  retarded  subject, 
averaged  in  four  experiments  123.5  sec.;  A.  V.,  10.3.;  with 
average  omissions  36.5.  These  results  are  similar  to  those  of 
Ev.  The  time  taken  by  S.  for  this  experiment  averaged  longer 
than  Ed's  time;  twelve  experiments  in  one  week,  average, 

JWissler:  op.  cit.,  270  college  students  discriminated  and  marked 
one  hundred  A's  in  a  total  of  six  hundred  letters  in  100.2  seconds  with 
an  average  of  2.2  errors. 


MENTAL   PROCESSES.  27 

152.7  sec.;  A.  V.,  8.6;  average  number  of  omissions,  10.  i.  In 
this  case  practice  for  one  week  decreased  the  number  of  errors, 
but  not  the  time. 

The  results  of  the  adding  experiments  are  given  in  Tables 
VIII  and  IX.  The  actual  time  was  not  determined  for  F.  and 
no  results  are  given  for  him  in  Table  IX.  P  is  the  most  rapid 
of  all  the  subjects,  probably  because  a  large  part  of  his  busi- 
ness was  that  of  bookkeeping.  Ed.,  who  had  had  considerable 
experience  in  adding  in  his  business  as  hotel  clerk,  was  notice- 
ably retarded,  particularly  during  the  first  two  weeks.  The 
total  and  actual  times  taken  by  Ed.  were  greater  at  first  than 
any  other  subject,  and  C.,  who  had  had  little  experience  in 
this  kind  of  work,  may  be  considered  approximately  normal, 
although  the  time  which  he  took  for  the  work  was  more  than 
that  of  the  other  excited  patient  or  of  the  two  normal  subjects. 

The  actual  time  gives  a  more  accurate  estimate  of  the  rapid- 
ity or  slowness  in  the  additions  than  does  the  total  time.  The 
two  cases  of  retardation  had  to  be  prodded  continually  at  first  to 
keep  on  with  the  work,  and  C.  had  a  tendency  to  lie  back  and 
to  rest  between  each  problem,  which  tendency  had  to  be  over- 
come. This  is  noticeable  in  the  time  lost,  the  differences  be- 
tween the  total  and  actual  times.  B.  averaged  in  lost  time 
about  13  seconds,  P.  n  seconds,  C.  18  seconds,  and  Ed.  and 
Ev.  about  19  seconds  in  each  test.  We  find,  therefore,  the  fol- 
lowing order  of  rapidity  in  the  first  week :  P.,  F.,  B.,  C.,  Ev. , 
Ed.  A  striking  fact  is  that  Ev.,  who  was  so  decidedly  retarded, 
much  more  so  than  Ed.,  was  much  more  rapid. 

TABI.B  VIII. 

Weekly  averages  of  total  time  in  seconds  for  adding  twenty  problems.     The 

average  variations  are  given  below  the  averages.     The  numbers 

of  experiments,  when  more  or  less  than  five,  are 

given  in  parentheses. 


Serial                  Normal, 
weeks.               B.            F. 

127.5       Io6-5 
i                     6.8        it.  5 

(4)          (4) 

Depressed. 
Ed.          Ev. 
312.2      214.0 
87.4        28.0 

(2) 

Excited. 
C.           P. 
183.5        90-8 
4-o          3-5 

(4)          (4) 

103.7 

212.6 
25-9 

198.4 
29.9 



2                     1-5 

in.  6        93.8 
3                     4-7          5-6 
(3) 

177.2 

ii.  8 
(6) 

162.5 

6-5 

(6) 

4                  92-2 

•j  *  D 

157-6 
8.7 

157-8 
9.6 

171.4        85.8 
3-7          1-8 

88.0 
5                                    1.6 

140.4 
10.3 

159.8 
5-8 



28  FRANZ  1 

TABLB  VIII.    Concluded. 


Serial 
weeks. 

6 

Normal. 
B.            F. 
109.5 
1-5 
(4) 

Depressed.                    Excited. 
Ed.        Ev.                   C.           P. 
164.2        83.2 
4.7          1-8 

8 

89.8 
4.8 
(4) 

141.4      162.2 
13.1        10.6 

9 

102.4 
0.7 

. 

II 

85-2 
3-0 

126.4      153-8 
6.9         6.6 

15 

82.4 
4-5 

161.8 

10.6 

TABLB  IX. 

Weekly  averages  of  actual  time  in  seconds  for  adding  twenty  problems. 
The  average  variations  are  given  below  the  averages.     The  numbers 
of  experiments,  when  more  or  less  than  five, 
are  given  in  parentheses. 


Serial                  Normal, 
weeks.                      B. 

112.  6 

i                             5-9 

(4) 

Depressed. 
Ed.         Ev. 
279.6      191.5 
84-3        24.5 
(2) 

Excited. 
C.        P. 
161.6        78.3 
7-4         4-5 

(4)          (4) 

93-3 
2-5 

177.8 

21  .0 

172.6 
27-9 

IOO.O 

3                           5-4 

I52-3 
10-3 

(6) 

142.1 
5-4 

(6) 



4 

141.0 
6.8 

143-2 
8.8 

154-6        75-9 
3-5          i-9 

5 

127-5 
9.0 

146.2 
5-2 



95-4 
6                            3-9 

(4) 





148.8        72.9 
5-8          3-1 

8 

124-5 
9-4 

142.8 
jo.  4 



88.5 
y                            0.4 



ii 

111.4 

5-7 

i37-o 
5-0 



15                          



142.6 
"•5 



MENTAL  PROCESSES.  29 

The  practice  improvement  is  most  marked  in  the  case  of  Ed., 
a  result  which  has  been  found  also  in  the  previous  experiments. 
But  an  increase  in  speed  does  not  follow  an  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  experiments.  Very  soon,  in  the  third  week,  Ev.  attains  his 
maximum  speed  and  thereafter  there  is  no  improvement.  All 
the  other  subjects  improve  to  the  end  of  their  series,  and  this 
improvement  is  marked  even  when  rest  intervals  of  two  or  three 
weeks  are  taken.  The  greatest  improvement  is  found  for  Ed. 
He  has  much  more  to  be  improved.  Here  again  it  is  difficult 
to  determine  how  much  the  increased  speed  is  due  to  the  prac- 
tice and  how  much  to  his  recovery.  Much  of  the  'practice 
effect'  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  improvement  in  the  mental 
condition.  The  greatest  improvement  in  the  other  subjects  is 
only  25  per  cent.,  i.  <?.,  Ev.,  and  in  B.  and  F.,  with  about  the 
same  number  of  experiments  the  results  of  the  last  week  show 
only  22  per  cent,  gain  in  speed.  In  Ed's  experiments  the 
times  of  the  last  week  are  only  forty  per  cent,  as  long  as  those 
of  the  first  week,  an  improvement  of  sixty  per  cent. 

In  the  fourth  week  of  the  series  on  C.  and  P. ,  the  ninth 
week  on  B.,  and  the  eleventh  week  of  the  work  on  Ed.,  Ev., 
and  F. ,  I  had  all  the  subjects  count  from  one  to  one  hundred, 
and  to  add  as  rapidly  as  possible  one  hundred  two-digit  prob- 

264 

lems.  One  hundred  problems,  e.  g. ,  g  3  8,  were  placed  on  a 
sheet  of  cardboard  and  instructions  given  to  add  the  individual 
problems  and  to  speak  the  results  as  rapidly  as  possible.  After 
this  I  had  each  subject  count  at  a  maximum  speed  from  one  to 
one  hundred.  The  times  were  taken  by  a  stop  watch.  The 
results  of  the  experiments  are  given  in  Table  X. 

TABI.E  X. 

Average  time  in  seconds  for  adding  one  hundred  two-figure  problems,  and 
for  counting  from  one  to  one  hundred.     The  average  variations  are 
given  below  the  averages.     The  numbers  of  experiments 
are  in  parentheses. 


Normal. 

Retarded. 

Excited. 

B. 

F. 

Ed. 

Ev. 

C. 

P. 

IOO 

Problems, 

85.0 
25.0 
(5) 

69.1 
3-6 

(7) 

78.8 
6-3 
(4) 

92-3 
8-5 
(4) 

144.0 

0.0 

(2) 

70-5 
3-5 

(2) 

Counting, 

37-8 
0.8 
(4) 

22.4 
i-7 

(5) 

'31-5 
2-3 

(4) 

62.0 
4.0 

(4) 

51-0 
0-5 

(2) 

34-o 
o.o 

(2) 

Difference, 

37-2 

46.7 

47-3 

30-3 

93-o 

36.5 

At  the  time  these  experiments  were  made  Ed.  was  not  ap- 
preciably retarded,  z.  <?.,  he  was  not  retarded  to  a  degree  that 


3O  FRANZ : 

could  be  determined  by  observation  or  by  any  rough  tests. 
His  rapidity  in  this  experiment  showed,  moreover,  that  he  was 
not  retarded  in  comparison  with  the  other  subjects.  C.  and  P. 
at  this  time  were  both  excited. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  general  time  relations  be- 
tween the  subjects  of  the  same  class  are  the  same  for  these  sim- 
ple additions  and  for  the  more  complicated  addition  problems 
on  the  same  days.  Thus,  for  example,  Ed.  took  Si%  as  long 
as  Ev.  for  the  five-digit  problems  and  85%  for  the  one-digit 
problems.  F.  took  80%  as  long  as  B.  for  the  one  digit  and 
83%  for  the  five-digit  problems,  and  P.  in  both  cases  approx- 
imated 50%  of  the  time  needed  by  C. 

In  the  comparison  of  the  figures  given  in  Tables  VIII,  IX, 
and  X,  we  are  justified,  I  think,  in  considering  that  a  large 
part  of  the  time  taken  by  Ed.  at  first  for  the  five-digit  problems 
was  due  to  the  retardation,  and  that  much  of  his  improvement 
was  due  to  the  recovery.  Part  of  the  improvement  undoubt- 
edly was  due  to  practice.  P.  continued  to  show  considerable 
speed  in  addition,  and  C.  was  consistently  slow.  The  time  of 
counting  for  P.  was  not  proportionately  so  fast,  but  C's  count- 
ing time  was  slow.  Ev.  also  had  slow  counting  time.  Consid- 
ering the  time  alone  we  might  say  that  both  C.  and  Ev.  showed 
a  retardation,  but  it  was  apparent  that  the  slowing  of  C.  was 
due  rather  to  an  awkwardness,  and  that  Ev's  was  due  to  some 
retarding  influence.  C.  showed  throughout  the  experiments,  as  is 
indicated  in  all  the  tables,  a  decided  mental  and  physical  clum- 
siness which  was  not  at  all  characteristic  of  Ev.  The  long  av- 
erage time  taken  by  B.  for  the  one  hundred  problems  was  due 
to  the  result  of  one  experiment,  in  which  some  event  must  have 
occurred  to  greatly  lengthen  the  time.  On  one  day  B.  took  105 
seconds  for  the  test.  If  the  other  results  be  considered  apart 
from  this,  we  find  an  average  time,  58.8  seconds,  A.  V.,  3.0. 

The  difference  in  time  between  the  addition  and  the  count- 
ing may  be  taken  as  approximately  the  time  of  the  mental 
operation  of  adding.  This  difference  is  large  for  C.  and  small 
for  Ev.  We  also  see  that  the  results  of  the  other  subjects  agree 
with  each  other  quite  well,  and  that  there  is  a  correspondence 
between  these  differences  and  the  choice  time  (choice  reaction 
time  minus  simple  reaction  time). 

Ed.  shows  no  retardation,  in  adding  the  one  hundred  prob- 
lems, in  counting,  or  in  the  adding  time.  Ev.  is  slow  in  add- 
ing and  counting  but  the  adding  time  is  rapid.  C.  is  slow  in 
counting  and  much  slower  in  adding,  and  his  adding  time  is 
very  slow.  P.  shows  nothing  abnormal.1 

1  The  averages  for  this  experiment  illustrate  well  the  danger  of  draw- 
ing conclusions  too  hastily  from  time  measurements  of  mental  phe- 
nomena. The  most  evident  conclusions  from  these  results  alone 
would  be  that  C.  was  retarded  at  the  time  the  experiments  were  made. 


MENTAL  PROCESSES.  31 

In  the  discrimination  and  distribution  of  one  hundred  colored 
cards  results  were  obtained  (Table  XI)  similar  to  some  already 
discussed.  Ev.  was  very  slow,  C.  was  slow,  P.  was  medium 
in  rapidity,  and  B.,  Ed.,  and  F.  were  rapid,  increasing  in  the 
order  named.  All  the  subjects  improved  from  practice. 

TABLE  XI. 

Weekly  average  time  in  seconds  for  discriminating  and  distributing  one 

hundred  colored  cards.     The  average  variations  are  given  below 

the  averages.     The  numbers  of  experiments,  when  more 

or  less  than  five,  are  in  parentheses. 


Serial 

Normal. 

Depressed. 

Excited. 

weeks. 

B. 

F. 

Ed.        Ev. 

C. 

P. 

157-5 

119.8 

151.0      422.6 

2OI.O 

190.0 

i 

7-5 

(2) 

3-3 

U) 

20.  8        30.1 

21.3 

(4) 

4-5 

a) 

133-8 

128.0 

2 

7.8 

o.o 

(4) 

(i) 

I4I-5 

3 

H-5 

(2) 

108.8 

188.2 

134.8 

4 

3-1 

7.8 

5-9 

(6) 

105.2 

109.0 

I2O.2        37O.8 

5 

2.6 

4-7 

7-4        15-8 

(3) 

6 

171.2 

122.4 

3-4 

4.1 

112.  0 

376.8 

9 

4-0 

25-4 

(2) 

Conclusions.  When  the  results  of  all  the  experiments  are 
considered  it  is  evident  that  the  excited  patients  do  not  show 
any  consistent  increase  in  speed  over  the  normal  or  depressed 
patients.  The  maniacal  condition  is,  therefore,  not  an  increased 
motor  ability  but  merely  an  increased  motor  diffusion. 

The  retarded  subjects,  on  the  other  hand,  were  slow  at  the 
beginning  of  all  the  series,  but  this  retardation  in  the  time  of 
mental  processes  is  not  regular. 

For  the  performance  of  what  we  may  call  the  more  complex 
mental  processes,  e.  g. ,  choice  reactions,  adding,  etc. ,  the  re- 
tarded subjects  do  not  take  » proportionately  so  long  a  time  as 
they  do  for  simpler  acts.  The  maniacal  patients  tend  to  keep 
the  normal  relations. 


32  FRANZ. 

In  the  retarded  patients  considerable  practice  effect  was 
found.  This  was  more  noticeable  during  the  first  few  experi- 
ments. In  other  work  I  have  shown  that  general  exercise  in- 
creased the  speed  of  some  mental  processes  in  a  case  of  retarda- 
tion, and  at  the  same  time  lowered  the  thresholds  for  pain  and 
touch  sensations.  These  facts  indicate  that  this  class  of 
patients  may  be  improved  to  some  extent  by  systematic  exer- 
cise, i.  <?. ,  their  movements  may  be  made  more  rapid.  This  would 
not  cure  the  depression  but  would  help  by  lessening  the  re- 
tardation. In  every  person  there  is  a  tendency  for  the  forma- 
tion of  habits,  and  not  the  least  in  the  insane.  It  is  probable 
that  in  many  cases  there  is  formed  the  habit  of  slowness, 
and  this  may  be  supplanted  by  an  activity  habit  formed  by 
exercise. 

From  the  results  of  the  simple  reaction  and  the  tapping  ex- 
periments it  seems  unlikely  that  the  retardation  comes  princi- 
pally at  the  beginning  of  the  movement,  as  has  been  suggested. 
If  the  retardation  was  a  slowing  in  starting  we  should  expect 
to  have  a  definite  time  added  to  the  normal  time  for  all  psy- 
cho-motor activities,  and  otherwise  to  keep  the  normal  time 
relations  (minus  this  time)  for  all  mental  processes.  More  de- 
tailed experiments  are  needed  on  this  subject. 

I  have  previously  suggested  that  the  retardation  may  be  a 
general  lowering  of  the  irritability,  but  from  the  experiments 
already  made  it  is  not  fully  settled  where  the  (supposed)  low- 
ered irritability  is.  Some  experiments  which  I  have  made  show 
that  in  cases  of  retardation  the  tendon  reflexes  are  slower  than 
normal  and  that  the  skin  sensibility  is  dulled.  In  conjunction 
with  the  fact  that  the  addition  o/  extra  mental  processes  does 
not  greatly  increase  the  total  time,  these  facts  would  indicate 
that  if  there  is  a  lowering  of  the  irritability  such  lowered  irri-  A 
tability  is  not  principally  in  the  brain  but  rather  in  the  periph- 
eral parts  of  the  body,  particularly  the  nervous  system.  I 
expect  to  take  up  this  matter  in  more  detail  in  another  paper. 

In  only  a  few  cases  are  the  average  variations  for  the  insane 
subjects  greater  than  normal. 


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